Mesa city workers begin four-day workweek

MESA, AZ — In an effort to save money, and following several other Arizona cities, city employees in Mesa are now working four days a week instead of five, according to azfamily.com.

Roughly 2,500 Mesa city employees now work 10-hour days Monday through Thursday and have Fridays off, the story stated.

Steve Wright, with the City of Mesa, said: "It was about the employees, it was about energy-savings, the environment and extended service for our customers."

Avondale was the first city in Arizona to attempt the four-day workweek pilot program; the program was so successful that it became a full-time program four months after it was originally implemented in June 2008, the story noted.

The City of Avondale, which calls their program "Green Friday," was able to save about $45,000 in energy costs by being closed on Fridays and saved an additional $10,000 in janitorial costs, the story added.

According to the story, Mesa will conduct a survey of its employees in December 2009 to get their feedback and decide whether or not the program should become permanent.